Could volatile compounds from leaves and fruits of Pistacia lentiscus constitute a novel source of anticancer, antioxidant, antiparasitic and antibacterial drugs?

Abstract

Essential oils possess remarkable biological properties, which constitute an important source for the development of bioactive compounds used in alternative medicine. This work aimed to determine the volatile compounds Pistacia lentiscus L. essential oils extracted from leaves and fruits and to evaluate their anticancer, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiparasitic activities. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis allowed the identification of 22 compounds in P. lentiscus essential oils. The main components of P. lentiscus leaves essential oils are myrcene (33.46%) and α-pinene (19.20%), while limonene (18.26%) and α-pinene (20.46%) were the major components of P. lentiscus fruits essential oils. The antioxidant activity was determined by ABTS, FRAP and DPPH tests. P. lentiscus fruits essential oils showed interesting antioxidant effects than P. lentiscus leaves essential oils by an antioxidant capacity values of IC50 = 29.64 ± 3.04 μg/mL, IC50 = 38.57 ± 4.22 μg/mL, and IC50 = 73.80 ± 3.96 μg/mL revealed by DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS assay respectively. The anticancer effect was investigated on RD and L20b adenocarcinoma cancerous cell lines. P. lentiscus fruits essential oils showed remarkable cytotoxic effects on RD and L20B cell lines at IC50 values of 26.43 ± 2.18 μg/mL and 33.02 ± 2.84 μg/mL, respectively. The antiparasitic effects were assessed against three Leishmania species (Leishmania infantum, Leishmania major, and Leishmania tropica) using MTT assay. P. lentiscus leaves essential oils showed an important cytotoxicity against L. major (IC50 = 17.52 ± 1.26 μg/mL) than P. lentiscus fruits essential oils IC50 = 21.42 ± 2.92 μg/mL, while, P. lentiscus fruits essential oils showed more activity against L. infantum (IC50 = 08 ± 0.83 μg/mL) than P. lentiscus leaves essential oils (IC50 = 11.28 ± 1.63 μg/mL). Furthermore, P. lentiscus essential oils were tested against six reference strains. Pistacia lentiscus essential oils exhibited the highest antibacterial inhibition on Proteus mirabilis by diameters values of 35 ± 1.33 mm and P. lentiscus fruits essential oils 33 ± 2.5 mm, respectively. However, P. lentiscus fruits essential oils was exhibited the lowest MIC against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (0.125% (v/v)). Moreover, the action of P. lentiscus essential oils against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was investigated by membrane permeability and membrane integrity assays. P. lentiscus leaves essential oils showed interesting bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects against P. aeruginosa (MIC = MBC = 0.25% (v/v)). P. lentiscus essential oils showed remarkable anticancer, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. However, further investigations are needed to validate the medicinal applications of these essential oils and their main compounds.